In such a system, the flattened thermoplastic foil which results after extrusion and foil blowing, can have its longitudinal edges infolded to form the bottom or sides of the bag, the foil can be punched to provide holes enabling the bags to be threaded onto pins, e.g. in stacking, a strip can be cut from one of the layers to define the bag opening, and pairs of the bags, forming a bag segment, can be transversely cut from the web, simultaneously sealing edges of the bag, and stacked on the pins. The pads can be longitudinally cut between them so that individual bag pads are produced. The stacking device can be provided with means for transferring the bag segments from the conveyor to the stacker.
In the production of such bags, especially for padded bags for automatic packaging machines, it has been found to be essential that the bag pad be formed with high precision to enable the bags to be properly positioned in a dispenser or the like, e.g. in an automatic packaging machine. It is not possible to utilize conventional stacking methods when pads of highly precise dimensions and bag alignment is required and when conventional apparatus is used for preparing bag pads, it is found that the apparatus operates too slowly. Apart from the need for exact orientation, there is a need to maintain the fabrication tolerances of the bags within narrow limits.